According a Rasmussen daily presidential tracking poll released on Monday, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are both polling at 48% among likely voters. The survey affirms the voter sentiment captured by Gallup's latest poll, which also shows a dead head between the candidates at 47%. Real Clear Politics has Obama leading by 1.1 percentage points in its aggregate poll tally. The polls come in the wake of last week's first presidential debate, in which Romney outperformed the president. Previous surveys had regularly showed Romney trailing; however, these latest polls give credence to the hope by the Romney campaign that last Wednesday night's debate would bode well for the Republican presidential hopeful.

Ramussen breaks down the approval ratings of the two candidates since the beginning of the year:

The closeness of the race is reflected in polls in swing states as well. Rasmussen has Obama up by one point in Ohio; up two points on Romney in Iowa; up one point on Romney in Colorado; Romney up one point in Virginia; and Romney up two points in Florida. Whether the narrowing gap between the two candidates is attributable to last week's debate, or something else is a matter one can only speculate about.